Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I didn’t catch much of Super Bowl media day but I thought Jameis Winston was great for Fox.
In today’s SI:AM:
🏀 Basketball gambling scandal
⚾ Baseball gambling scandal
🇮🇹 Philadelphia Famiglia
They’re on a roll
It’s been a rough few years for the Portland Trail Blazers. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2021 and finished last season with the worst record in the Western Conference. And after a 13–28 start to this season, they seemed destined to remain irrelevant. But all of a sudden, Portland has gotten hot. Really hot.
A 121–119 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday was Portland’s eighth win in its last nine games. Since the Blazers won on Jan. 18 to snap a five-game losing streak, no other team in the NBA has won as many games as them. It’s the first time the Blazers have won at least eight games in a nine-game span since May 2021.
Monday’s win over the Suns was a dramatic one. The Blazers took the lead with 42 seconds left in regulation on a step-back jumper by Anfernee Simons and extended their lead to three points thanks to a great hustle play by Jerami Grant, before Phoenix’s Royce O’Neale forced overtime by knocking down a three-pointer after some great ball movement from the Suns.
Royce O'Neale ties it up from deep with 1.7 seconds left ‼️
— NBA (@NBA) February 4, 2025
Heading to OT in Portland on NBA League Pass 🍿 pic.twitter.com/6bp5pEaM5t
The OT period was tightly contested, with neither team leading by more than three points at any time. The Suns had a chance to tie the game with four seconds left when Devin Booker was fouled while attempting a three and Phoenix trailing 120–117. But Booker, who ranks seventh among active players with an .872 free-throw percentage, missed his third attempt from the line and the Blazers held on to win.
Deandre Ayton came up huge for Portland in the win, finishing with 25 points and 20 rebounds. It was the fourth 20–20 game of his career and his first since Nov. 2022, when he was a member of the Suns. Ayton made his biggest impact in OT, scoring nine of Portland’s 14 points in the extra session and collecting six rebounds, including four offensive boards.
The star for Portland during regulation was Deni Avdija, who has been fantastic for the Blazers since being acquired in a trade with the Washington Wizards last summer. He had 24 points (on 8-of-12 shooting), eight rebounds and five assists. Avdija has played a bigger role for the Blazers over the past couple of weeks. He averaged 28 minutes and 14 points per game during the team’s first 38 games of the season, alternating between the starting lineup and a bench role. But since returning from a three-game absence due to a sprained ankle on Jan. 19, Avdija is averaging 33.3 minutes and 18.9 points per game. He’s the Blazers’ leading scorer and second-leading rebounder during this recent hot streak.
The Blazers’ sudden run of success has thrust them into the periphery of the playoff hunt. At 21–29, they’re in 13th place in the West. Portland is 4.5 games behind the Sacramento Kings and Suns, who are tied at ninth and 10th place in the conference, respectively. Compare that to before the hot streak began, when the Blazers were eight games back of the final play-in spot. Fans in Portland shouldn’t start planning their spring around watching their hometown team play postseason basketball, but there’s at least a glimmer of hope.
Portland has two games left on this current six-game homestand and then embarks on a difficult three-game road trip that begins with a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and finishes with two games against the Denver Nuggets. Those games against two of the West’s best teams could halt the Blazers’ momentum, but winning eight out of nine has already shown that this version of the Blazers is capable of playing better than the team has in years. Can they keep it up and make a push for a postseason berth or will they go back to their old ways?
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Three men’s college basketball programs are part of an ongoing FBI investigation into alleged game-fixing, Pat Forde reports.
- But wait! There’s more gambling news! Tom Verducci has all the details on MLB’s decision to uphold the firing of umpire Pat Hoberg for gambling violations.
- Conor Orr has an impressively thorough story on the Eagles’ deep ties to the Italian-American community.
- Matt Verderame looks at how the Chiefs’ decision to move Joe Thuney from guard to tackle is an underrated key for Kansas City’s offense.
- Greg Bishop spoke with Saquon Barkley about how he’s been inspired by Kobe Bryant ever since his days at Penn State.
- Albert Breer spoke with people around the NFL about the biggest factors that will decide the Super Bowl.
- The Warriors are interested in a reunion with Kevin Durant before the trade deadline, Chris Mannix reports.
- Dick Vitale will be back on the mic for ESPN this weekend for the first time in two years.
The top five…
… plays in the NBA last night:
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | The Blazers—Yes, the Blazers—Are the NBA’s Hottest Team.
